1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates generally to devices and systems which aid in the location of a parked automobile in crowded parking lots or on streets.
2. Background
Searching for a parked automobile, whether in a large parking lot or in a parking garage, is a commonplace daily event in large U.S. cities and suburban areas. Searchers often may wander about for some time until they spot the vehicle. This practice is usually frustrating, and depending on the time of day and the location, may even be dangerous. Therefore, most people try to come up with some way of remembering and identifying exactly where an automobile was parked. Further, many of the automobiles and SUV""s in today""s parking lots look alike, which exacerbates the difficulties of a straight forward sighting.
A number of invention devices have become available, offering a solution to this common daily problem. These include various projections that are fastened to the tops of automobiles, and which may light up or emit a sound upon receiving a radioed activating signal. However, for a number of reasons including cost, the devices do not appear to be favored by the public, as a trip to mall parking lots will verify. There therefore remains a need for a simple, practical, inexpensive system for locating a parked vehicle in a large parking lot or parking garage.
The present invention provides a system comprising a direction indicating device and omni-directional radio signal generator packaged in a small, hand-held locator module, and a vehicle mounted receive/response module that interacts with the locator module. The hand-held locator module is used to generate and transmit a high frequency radio signal which is received by a small directional antenna array in the vehicle receive/response module. Means are provided in the receive/response module to compute the entry angle of the received radio signal at the vehicle, and to transmit a new signal to the locator module which processes the new signal and displays the direction of the vehicle location with respect to the axis of the hand-held locator module.
The invention devices use primarily, small, standard low cost parts, requiring little power and operating efficiently.
Accordingly, it is a principal object of this invention to provide a parked vehicle location finder system that is inexpensive and easy to use.
Another object is to provide a parked vehicle location finder that can be easily adapted to any automobile.
An advantage of this invention is that the finder indicates the vehicle elevation in addition to its planar direction.
Further objects and advantages of the invention will be apparent from studying the following portion of the specification, the claims and the attached drawings.